Systems and methods for processing objects, including automated linear processing stations

ABSTRACT

A method of processing objects using a programmable motion device is disclosed. The method includes the steps of perceiving identifying indicia representative of an identity of a plurality of objects and directing the plurality of objects toward an input area from at least one input conveyance system, acquiring an object from the plurality of objects at the input area using an end effector of the programmable motion device, and moving the acquired object toward an identified processing location using the programmable motion device. The identified processing location is associated with the identifying indicia and the identified processing location is provided as one of a plurality of processing locations along a first direction. The step of moving the acquired object includes moving the programmable motion device along a second direction that is substantially parallel with the first direction.

PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/150,684, filed Jan. 15, 2021; which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/934,396, filed Mar. 23, 2018, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,941,000, issued Mar. 9, 2021, which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/475,421, filed Mar. 23,2017, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND

The invention generally relates to automated programmable motion controlsystems, e.g., robotic, sortation and other processing systems, andrelates in particular to programmable motion control systems intendedfor use in environments requiring that a variety of objects (e.g.,articles, packages, consumer products etc.) be processed and moved to anumber of processing destinations.

Many object distribution systems, for example, receive objects in adisorganized stream or bulk transfer that may be provided as individualobjects or objects aggregated in groups such as in bags, arriving on anyof several different conveyances, commonly a conveyor, a truck, a palleta Gaylord, or a bin etc. Each object must then be distributed to thecorrect destination location (e.g., a container) as determined byidentification information associated with the object, which is commonlydetermined by a label printed on the object. The destination locationmay take many forms, such as a bag, a shelf, a container, or a bin.

The processing (e.g., sortation or distribution) of such objects hastraditionally been done, at least in part, by human workers that scanthe objects, for example with a hand-held barcode scanner, and thenplace the objects at assigned locations. Many order fulfillmentoperations, for example, achieve high efficiency by employing a processcalled wave picking. In wave picking, orders are picked from warehouseshelves and placed at locations (e.g., into bins) containing multipleorders that are sorted downstream. At the sorting stage, individualarticles are identified, and multi-article orders are consolidated, forexample, into a single bin or shelf location, so that they may be packedand then shipped to customers. The process of sorting these articles hastraditionally been done by hand. A human sorter picks an article, andthen places the article in the so-determined bin or shelf location whereall articles for that order or manifest have been defined to belong.Automated systems for order fulfillment have also been proposed. See,for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0244026, whichdiscloses the use of a robotic arm together with an arcuate structurethat is movable to within reach of the robotic arm.

The identification of objects by code scanning generally either requiremanual processing, or require that the code location be controlled orconstrained so that a fixed or robot-held code scanner (e.g., a barcodescanner) can reliably detect the code. Manually operated barcodescanners are therefore generally either fixed or handheld systems. Withfixed systems, such as those at point-of-sale systems, the operatorholds the article and places it in front of the scanner, which scanscontinuously, and decodes any barcodes that it can detect. If thearticle's code is not immediately detected, the person holding thearticle typically needs to vary the position or orientation of thearticle with respect to the fixed scanner, so as to render the barcodemore visible to the scanner. For handheld systems, the person operatingthe scanner may look at the barcode on the article, and then hold thearticle such that the barcode is within the viewing range of thescanner, and then press a button on the handheld scanner to initiate ascan of the barcode.

Further, many distribution center sorting systems generally assume aninflexible sequence of operation whereby a disorganized stream of inputobjects is provided (by a human) as a singulated stream of objects thatare oriented with respect to a scanner that identifies the objects. Aninduction element or elements (e.g., a conveyor, a tilt tray, ormanually movable bins) transport the objects to desired destinationlocations or further processing stations, which may be a bin, a chute, abag or a conveyor etc.

In conventional object sortation or distribution systems, human workersor automated systems typically retrieve objects in an arrival order, andsort each object or objects into a collection bin based on a set ofgiven heuristics. For example, all objects of a like type might bedirected to a particular collection bin, or all objects in a singlecustomer order, or all objects destined for the same shippingdestination, etc. may be directed to a common destination location.Generally, the human workers, with the possible limited assistance ofautomated systems, are required to receive objects and to move each totheir assigned collection bin. If the number of different types of input(received) objects is large, then a large number of collection bins isrequired.

FIG. 1 for example, shows an object distribution system 10 in whichobjects arrive, e.g., in trucks, as shown at 12, are separated andstored in packages that each include a specific combination of objectsas shown at 14, and the packages are then shipped as shown at 16 todifferent retail stores, providing that each retail store receives aspecific combination of objects in each package. Each package receivedat a retail store from transport 16, is broken apart at the store andsuch packages are generally referred to as break-packs. In particular,incoming trucks 12 contain vendor cases 18 of homogenous sets ofobjects. Each vendor case, for example, may be provided by amanufacturer of each of the objects. The objects from the vendor cases18 are moved into decanted bins 20, and are then brought to a processingarea 14 that includes break-pack store packages 22. At the processingarea 14, the break-pack store packages 22 are filled by human workersthat select items from the decanted vendor bins to fill the break-packstore packages according to a manifest. For example, a first set of thebreak-pack store packages may go to a first store (as shown at 24), anda second set of break-pack store packages may go to a second store (asshown at 26). In this way, the system may accept large volumes ofproduct from a manufacturer, and then re-package the objects intobreak-packs to be provided to retail stores at which a wide variety ofobjects are to be provided in a specific controlled distributionfashion.

Such a system however, has inherent inefficiencies as well asinflexibilities since the desired goal is to match incoming objects toassigned collection bins. Such systems may require a large number ofcollection bins (and therefore a large amount of physical space, largeinvestment costs, and large operating costs), in part, because sortingall objects to all destinations at once is not always most efficient.Additionally, such break-pack systems must also monitor the volume ofeach like object in a bin, requiring that a human worker continuouslycount the items in a bin.

Further, current state-of-the-art sortation systems also rely in humanlabor to some extent. Most solutions rely on a worker that is performingsortation, by scanning each object from an induction area (chute, table,etc.) and placing each object at a staging location, conveyor, orcollection bin. When a bin is full, another worker empties the bin intoa bag, box, or other container, and sends that container on to the nextprocessing step. Such a system has limits on throughput (i.e., how fastcan human workers sort to or empty bins in this fashion) and on numberof diverts (i.e., for a given bin size, only so many bins may bearranged to be within efficient reach of human workers).

Unfortunately, these systems do not address the limitations of the totalnumber of system bins. The system is simply diverting an equal share ofthe total objects to each parallel manual cell. Thus, each parallelsortation cell must have all the same collection bin designations;otherwise, an object may be delivered to a cell that does not have a binto which the object is mapped. There remains a need, therefore, for amore efficient and more cost effective object processing system thatprocesses objects of a variety of sizes and weights into appropriatecollection bins or trays of fixed sizes, yet is efficient in handlingobjects of varying sizes and weights.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an embodiment, the invention provides a method ofprocessing objects using a programmable motion device. The methodincludes the steps of perceiving identifying indicia representative ofan identity of a plurality of objects and directing the plurality ofobjects toward an input area from at least one input conveyance system,acquiring an object from the plurality of objects at the input areausing an end effector of the programmable motion device, and moving theacquired object toward an identified processing location using theprogrammable motion device. The identified processing location isassociated with the identifying indicia and the identified processinglocation is provided as one of a plurality of processing locations alonga first direction. The step of moving the acquired object includesmoving the programmable motion device along a second direction that issubstantially parallel with the first direction.

In accordance with another embodiment, the invention provides a methodof processing objects using a programmable motion device, wherein themethod includes the steps of perceiving identifying indiciarepresentative of an identity of a plurality of objects, acquiring anobject from the plurality of objects at an input area using an endeffector of the programmable motion device and moving the acquiredobject toward an identified processing location using the programmablemotion device, said identified processing location being associated withthe identifying indicia and said identified processing location beingprovided as one of a plurality of processing locations that extend alonga first direction. The step of moving the acquired object includesmoving the programmable motion device along a second direction that issubstantially parallel with the first direction.

In accordance with a further embodiment, the invention provides aprocessing system for processing objects using a programmable motiondevice. The processing system includes a perception unit for perceivingidentifying indicia representative of an identity of a plurality ofobjects associated with an input conveyance system, and an acquisitionsystem for acquiring an object from the plurality of objects at theinput area using an end effector of the programmable motion device. Theprogrammable motion device for moving the acquired object toward anidentified processing location. The identified processing location isassociated with the identifying indicia and the identified processinglocation is provided as one of a plurality of processing locations thatextend along a first direction. The programmable motion device ismovable along a second direction that is substantially parallel with thefirst direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description may be further understood with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of an object processingsystem of the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of an object processingsystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of an underside of aperception system in the object processing system of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view from the perceptionsystem of FIG. 3 , showing a view of objects within a bin of objects tobe processed;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show an illustrative diagrammatic view of a graspselection process in an object processing system of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B show an illustrative diagrammatic view of a graspplanning process in an object processing system of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show an illustrative diagrammatic view of a graspexecution process in an object processing system of an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8A shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of a processingstation in an object processing system in accordance with an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 8B shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of a processingstation in an object processing system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the invention involving a floor mounted programmablemotion device;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the system of FIG.8A with the programmable motion device deposing an object into aprocessing bin;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the system ofFIG. 8A with the programmable motion device moving a processing bin ontoan outbound conveyor;

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the system ofFIG. 8A with the programmable motion device having moved a new bin ontothe processing bin conveyor;

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative diagrammatic exploded view of a box trayassembly for use in a system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 13 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of the box tray assemblyof FIG. 12 with the components combined;

FIGS. 14A-14D show illustrative diagrammatic views of a bin removalsystem for use in a system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of an objectprocessing system in accordance with another embodiment of the inventionthat identifies changing and unchanging motion planning general areas;

FIG. 16 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the system ofFIG. 15 , showing multiple possible paths from the programmable motiondevice to a destination carrier;

FIG. 17 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the system ofFIG. 15 , showing paths from the programmable motion device to adestination carrier with an emphasis on minimum time;

FIG. 18 shows an illustrative diagrammatic top view of the system ofFIG. 15 , showing paths from the programmable motion device to adestination carrier with an emphasis on minimum risk; and

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative diagrammatic view of an object processingsystem in accordance with a further embodiment of the present inventioninvolving multiple processing stations.

The drawings are shown for illustrative purposes only.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with an embodiment, the invention provides a method ofprocessing objects using a programmable motion device. The methodincludes the steps of perceiving identifying indicia representative ofan identity of a plurality of objects and directing the plurality ofobjects toward an input area from at least one input conveyance system,acquiring an object from the plurality of objects at the input areausing an end effector of the programmable motion device, and moving theacquired object toward an identified processing location using theprogrammable motion device, said identified processing location beingassociated with the identifying indicia and said identified processinglocation being provided as one of a plurality of processing locationsalong a first direction, and said step of moving the acquired objectincluding moving the programmable motion device along a second directionthat is substantially parallel with the first direction.

Generally, objects need to be identified and conveyed to desired objectspecific locations. The systems reliably automate the identification andconveyance of such objects, employing in certain embodiments, a set ofconveyors, a perception system, and a plurality of destination bins. Inshort, applicants have discovered that when automating sortation ofobjects, there are a few main things to consider: 1) the overall systemthroughput (objects sorted per hour), 2) the number of diverts (i.e.,number of discrete locations to which an object can be routed), 3) thetotal area of the sortation system (square feet), and 4) the capital andannual costs to purchase and run the system.

Processing objects in a break-pack distribution center is oneapplication for automatically identifying and processing objects. Asnoted above, in a break-pack distribution center, objects commonlyarrive in trucks, are conveyed to sortation stations where they aresorted according to desired destinations into boxes (or packages) thatare then loaded in trucks for transport to, for example, shipping ordistribution centers or retail stores. In a shipping or distributioncenter, the desired destination is commonly obtained by readingidentifying information printed on the box or package. In this scenario,the destination corresponding to identifying information is commonlyobtained by querying the customer's information system. In otherscenarios, the destination may be written directly on the box, or may beknown through other means such as by assignment to a vendor bin.

The system also requests specific bins of objects from a storage system,which helps optimize the process of having desired objects be deliveredto specific singulator cells in an efficient way without simply lettingall bins of objects appear at each singulator cell in a purely randomorder.

FIG. 2 , for example, shows a system 30 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention that receives decanted vendor bins, e.g., 32,34, 36 on an in-feed conveyor 38. A programmable motion device such asan articulated arm 40 having an end effector is provided suspended fromand movable along a linear gantry 42. Adjacent the base of thearticulated arm and also suspended from the linear gantry 42 is aperception unit 50 (as further discussed below with reference to FIG. 3). Additional perception units 56 may be provided (for example, nearvendor bin in-feed conveyor 38) that capture perception informationregarding a label that is applied to each bin e.g., 32, 34, 36 thatassociates the bin with the contents of the bin.

The articulated arm is programmed to access each of the vendor bins 32,34, 36, and to move (including movement along the gantry) to bring anyof the objects in bins 32, 34, 36 to one of a plurality of break-packpackages 44 at a plurality of processing locations. When a package 44 iscomplete, the articulated arm 40 will move (push) the completed box ontoan output conveyor 46 on which completed boxes 48 are provided. Thecompleted boxes may be sealed and labeled at the processing station 30,or may be sealed and labeled at a later station. An additional conveyor52 may be provided that provides empty boxes 54 to within access of thearticulated arm 40. After a completed box is removed from the processinglocation, an empty box may be grasped by the end effector of thearticulated arm and placed in the processing location.

It is assumed that the bins of objects are marked in one or more placeson their exterior with a visually distinctive mark such as a barcode(e.g., providing a UPC code) or radio-frequency identification (RFID)tag or mailing label so that they may be sufficiently identified with ascanner for processing. The type of marking depends on the type ofscanning system used, but may include 1D or 2D code symbologies.Multiple symbologies or labeling approaches may be employed. The typesof scanners employed are assumed to be compatible with the markingapproach. The marking, e.g. by barcode, RFID tag, mailing label or othermeans, encodes a identifying indicia (e.g., a symbol string), which istypically a string of letters and/or numbers. The symbol string uniquelyassociates the vendor bin with a specific set of homogenous objects.

The operations of the system described above are coordinated with acentral control system 70 as shown in FIG. 2 that communicateswirelessly with the articulated arm 40, the perception units 56, as wellas in-feed conveyor 38. The perception unit 56 captures indicia 33 onthe bins that identify the content of the bins. In particular, thissystem determines from symbol strings the UPC associated with a vendorbin, as well as the outbound destination for each object. The centralcontrol system 70 is comprised of one or more workstations or centralprocessing units (CPUs). For example, the correspondence between UPCs ormailing labels, and outbound destinations is maintained by a centralcontrol system in a database called a manifest. The central controlsystem maintains the manifest by communicating with a warehousemanagement system (WMS). The manifest provides the outbound destinationfor each in-bound object.

As discussed above, the system of an embodiment includes a perceptionsystem (e.g., 50) that is mounted above a bin of objects to be processednext to the base of the articulated arm 40, looking down into a bin(e.g., 32, 34, 36). The system 50, for example and as shown in FIG. 3 ,may include (on the underside thereof), a camera 72, a depth sensor 74and lights 76. A combination of 2D and 3D (depth) data is acquired. Thedepth sensor 74 may provide depth information that may be used togetherwith the camera image data to determine depth information regarding thevarious objects in view. The lights 76 may be used to remove shadows andto facilitate the identification of edges of objects, and may be all onduring use, or may be illuminated in accordance with a desired sequenceto assist in object identification. The system uses this imagery and avariety of algorithms to generate a set of candidate grasp locations forthe objects in the bin as discussed in more detail below.

FIG. 4 shows an image view from the perception unit 50. The image viewshows a bin 44 in an input area 46 (a conveyor), and the bin 44 containsobjects 78, 80, 82, 84 and 86. In the present embodiment, the objectsare homogenous, and are intended for distribution to differentbreak-pack packages. Superimposed on the objects 78, 80, 82, 84, 86 (forillustrative purposes) are anticipated grasp locations 79, 81, 83 and 85of the objects. Note that while candidate grasp locations 79, 83 and 85appear to be good grasp locations, grasp location 81 does not becauseits associated object is at least partially underneath another object.The system may also not even try to yet identify a grasp location forthe object 84 because the object 84 is too obscured by other objects.Candidate grasp locations may be indicated using a 3D model of the robotend effector placed in the location where the actual end effector wouldgo to use as a grasp location as shown in FIG. 4 . Grasp locations maybe considered good, for example, if they are close to the center of massof the object to provide greater stability during grasp and transport,and/or if they avoid places on an object such as caps, seams etc. wherea good vacuum seal might not be available.

If an object cannot be fully perceived by the detection system, theperception system considers the object to be two different objects, andmay propose more than one candidate grasps of such two differentobjects. If the system executes a grasp at either of these bad grasplocations, it will either fail to acquire the object due to a bad grasppoint where a vacuum seal will not occur (e.g., on the right), or willacquire the object at a grasp location that is very far from the centerof mass of the object (e.g., on the left) and thereby induce a greatdeal of instability during any attempted transport. Each of theseresults is undesirable.

If a bad grasp location is experienced, the system may remember thatlocation for the associated object. By identifying good and bad grasplocations, a correlation is established between features in the 2D/3Dimages and the idea of good or bad grasp locations. Using this data andthese correlations as input to machine learning algorithms, the systemmay eventually learn, for each image presented to it, where to bestgrasp an object, and where to avoid grasping an object.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the perception system may also identifyportions of an object that are the most flat in the generation of goodgrasp location information. In particular, if an object includes atubular end and a flat end such as object 87, the system would identifythe more flat end as shown at 88 in FIG. 5B. Additionally, the systemmay select the area of an object where a UPC code appears, as such codesare often printed on a relatively flat portion of the object tofacilitate scanning of the barcode.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show that for each object 90, 92, the grasp selectionsystem may determine a direction that is normal to the selected flatportion of the object 90, 92. As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the roboticsystem will then direct the end effector 94 to approach each object 90,92 from the direction that is normal to the surface in order to betterfacilitate the generation of a good grasp on each object. By approachingeach object from a direction that is substantially normal to a surfaceof the object, the robotic system significantly improves the likelihoodof obtaining a good grasp of the object, particularly when a vacuum endeffector is employed.

The invention provides therefore in certain embodiments that graspoptimization may be based on determination of surface normal, i.e.,moving the end effector to be normal to the perceived surface of theobject (as opposed to vertical or gantry picks), and that such grasppoints may be chosen using fiducial features as grasp points, such aspicking on a barcode, given that barcodes are almost always applied to aflat spot on the object.

In accordance with various embodiments therefore, the invention furtherprovides a sortation system that may learn object grasp locations fromexperience (and optionally human guidance). Systems designed to work inthe same environments as human workers will face an enormous variety ofobjects, poses, etc. This enormous variety almost ensures that therobotic system will encounter some configuration of object(s) that itcannot handle optimally; at such times, it is desirable to enable ahuman operator to assist the system and have the system learn fromnon-optimal grasps.

The system optimizes grasp points based on a wide range of features,either extracted offline or online, tailored to the gripper'scharacteristics. The properties of the suction cup influence itsadaptability to the underlying surface, hence an optimal grasp is morelikely to be achieved when picking on the estimated surface normal of anobject rather than performing vertical gantry picks common to currentindustrial applications.

In addition to geometric information the system uses appearance basedfeatures as depth sensors may not always be accurate enough to providesufficient information about graspability. For example, the system canlearn the location of fiducials such as barcodes on the object, whichcan be used as indicator for a surface patch that is flat andimpermeable, hence suitable for a suction cup. One such example is theuse of barcodes on consumer products. Another example is shipping boxesand bags, which tend to have the shipping label at the object's centerof mass and provide an impermeable surface, as opposed to the raw bagmaterial, which might be slightly porous and hence not present a goodgrasp.

By identifying bad or good grasp points on the image, a correlation isestablished between features in the 2D/3D imagery and the idea of goodor bad grasp points; using this data and these correlations as input tomachine learning algorithms, the system can eventually learn, for eachimage presented to it, where to grasp and where to avoid.

This information is added to experience based data the system collectswith every pick attempt, successful or not. Over time the robot learnsto avoid features that result in unsuccessful grasps, either specific toan object type or to a surface/material type. For example, the robot mayprefer to avoid picks on shrink wrap, no matter which object it isapplied to, but may only prefer to place the grasp near fiducials oncertain object types such as shipping bags.

This learning can be accelerated by off-line generation ofhuman-corrected images. For instance, a human could be presented withthousands of images from previous system operation and manually annotategood and bad grasp points on each one. This would generate a largeamount of data that could also be input into the machine learningalgorithms to enhance the speed and efficacy of the system learning.

In addition to experience based or human expert based training data, alarge set of labeled training data can be generated based on a detailedobject model in physics simulation making use of known gripper andobject characteristics. This allows fast and dense generation ofgraspability data over a large set of objects, as this process is notlimited by the speed of the physical robotic system or human input.

FIG. 8A shows a diagrammatic top view of the system of FIG. 2 ,including the linear gantry 42 from which the articulated arm 40 andperception system 50 are suspended, the in-feed conveyor 38 includingdecanted vendor bins (e.g., 32, 34, 36), the break-pack packages 44, theoutput conveyor 46 and the empty boxes 54 on the empty box supplyconveyor 52. In FIG. 8A, the articulated arm 40 is grasping an objectfrom in-feed bin 34. The grasped object may be moved from the in-feedbin 34 to a break-pack package as shown in FIG. 9 . When a break-packpackage is complete, the articulated arm may push the completed package45 onto the output conveyor 46 as shown in FIG. 10 . The articulated arm40 may then be engaged to grasp an empty box 54 from the empty boxsupply conveyor 52, and place it into the processing location vacated bythe completed box 45 as shown in FIG. 11 . The system may then continueprocessing the in-feed bins (e.g., 32, 34, 36). FIG. 8B shows a systemsimilar to that of FIG. 8A, except that the linear support 43 for (andproviding the linear actuation of) the articulated arm 40 is on thefloor, and in the example of FIG. 8B, perception units 51 may bepositioned above the in-feed conveyor 38.

The bins 44 may be provided as boxes, totes, containers or any othertype of device that may receive and hold an item. In furtherembodiments, the bins may be provided in uniform trays (to provideconsistency of spacing and processing) and may further include opencovers that may maintain the bin in an open position, and may furtherprovide consistency in processing through any of spacing, alignment, orlabeling.

For example, FIG. 12 shows an exploded view of a box tray assembly 130.As shown, the box 132 (e.g., a standard shipping sized cardboard box)may include bottom 131 and side edges 133 that are received by a topsurface 135 and inner sides 137 of a box tray 134. The box tray 134 mayinclude a recessed (protected) area in which a label or otheridentifying indicia 146 may be provided, as well as a wide and smoothcontact surface 151 that may be engaged by an urging or removalmechanism as discussed below.

As also shown in FIG. 12 , the box 132 may include top flaps 138 that,when opened as shown, are held open by inner surfaces 140 of the boxcover 136. The box cover 136 may also include a recessed (protected)area in which a label or other identifying indicia 145 may be provided.The box cover 136 also provides a defined rim opening 142, as well ascorner elements 144 that may assist in providing structural integrity ofthe assembly, and may assist in stacking un-used covers on one another.Un-used box trays may also be stacked on each other.

The box 132 is thus maintained securely within the box tray 134, and thebox cover 136 provides that the flaps 138 remain down along the outsideof the box permitting the interior of the box to be accessible throughthe opening 142 in the box cover 136. FIG. 13 shows a width side view ofthe box tray assembly 130 with the box 132 securely seated within thebox tray 134, and the box cover holding open the flaps 138 of the box132. The box tray assemblies may be used as any or both of the storagebins and destination bins in various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIGS. 14A-14D, a box kicker 184 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention may be suspended by and travel alonga track 86, and may include a rotatable arm 88 and a roller wheel 190 atthe end of the arm 88. With reference to FIGS. 14B-14D, when the rollerwheel 190 contacts the kicker plate 151 (shown in FIG. 12 ) of a boxtray assembly 120, the arm 188 continues to rotate, urging the box trayassembly 180 from a first conveyor 182 to a second conveyor 180. Again,the roller wheel 190 is designed to contact the kicker plate 151 of abox tray assembly 181 to push the box tray assembly 181 onto theconveyor 180. Such a system may be used to provide that boxes that areempty or finished being unloaded may be removed (e.g., from conveyor182), or that boxes that are full or finished being loaded may beremoved (e.g., from conveyor 182). The conveyors 180, 182 may also becoplanar, and the system may further include transition roller 183 tofacilitate movement of the box tray assembly 181, e.g., by beingactivated to pull the box tray over to the conveyor 180.

The system of an embodiment may also employ motion planning using atrajectory database that is dynamically updated over time, and isindexed by customer metrics. The problem domains contain a mix ofchanging and unchanging components in the environment. For example, theobjects that are presented to the system are often presented in randomconfigurations, but the target locations into which the objects are tobe placed are often fixed and do not change over the entire operation.

One use of the trajectory database is to exploit the unchanging parts ofthe environment by pre-computing and saving into a database trajectoriesthat efficiently and robustly move the system through these spaces.Another use of the trajectory database is to constantly improve theperformance of the system over the lifetime of its operation. Thedatabase communicates with a planning server that is continuouslyplanning trajectories from the various starts to the various goals, tohave a large and varied set of trajectories for achieving any particulartask. In various embodiments, a trajectory path may include any numberof changing and unchanging portions that, when combined, provide anoptimal trajectory path in an efficient amount of time.

FIG. 15 for example, shows a diagrammatic view of a system in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention that includes an input area conveyor38 (moving in a direction as indicated at A) that provide input bins 32to a programmable motion device (as shown diagrammatically at 40), suchas an articulated arm, having a base as shown at 59, and an end effector(shown diagrammatically at 94) that is programmed to have a homeposition (shown at 95), and is programmed for moving objects from aninput bin (e.g., 32) to processing locations, e.g., destinationlocations at the plurality of sets of boxes 44. Again, the system mayinclude a defined home or base location 95 to which each object mayinitially be brought upon acquisition from the bin (e.g., 32). Theprogrammable motion device 40, as seen in FIG. 2 , is mounted on thegantry 42 and is movable in directions as indicated at B while thearticulated arm may also be moving.

In certain embodiments, the system may include a plurality of baselocations, as well as a plurality of predetermined path portionsassociated with the plurality of base locations. The trajectories takenby the articulated arm of the robot system from the input bin to thebase location are constantly changing based in part, on the location ofeach object in the input bin, the orientation of the object in the inputbin, and the shape, weight and other physical properties of the objectto be acquired.

Once the articulated arm has acquired an object and is positioned at thebase location, the paths to each of the plurality of destination bins 44are not changing. In particular, each destination bin is associated witha unique destination bin location, and the trajectories from the baselocation to each of the destination bin locations individually is notchanging. A trajectory, for example, may be a specification for themotion of a programmable motion device over time. In accordance withvarious embodiments, such trajectories may be generated by experience,by a person training the system, and/or by automated algorithms. For atrajectory that is not changing, the shortest distance is a direct pathto the target destination bin, but the articulated arm is comprised ofarticulated sections, joints, motors etc. that provide specific rangesof motion, speeds, accelerations and decelerations. Because of this, therobotic system may take any of a variety of trajectories between, forexample, base locations and destination bin locations.

FIG. 16 for example, shows three such trajectories (₁T¹, ₂T¹ and ₃T¹)between base location 95 and a destination bin location 102. Theelements of FIG. 13 are the same as those of FIG. 12 . Each trajectorywill have an associated time as well as an associated risk factor. Thetime is the time it takes for the articulated arm of the robotic systemto accelerate from the base location 95 move toward the destination bin102, and decelerate to the destination bin location 106 in order toplace the object in the destination bin 102.

The risk factor may be determined in a number of ways including whetherthe trajectory includes a high (as pre-defined) acceleration ordeceleration (linear or angular) at any point during the trajectory. Therisk factor may also include any likelihood that the articulated arm mayencounter (crash into) anything in the robotic environment. Further, therisk factor may also be defined based on learned knowledge informationfrom experience of the same type of robotic arms in other roboticsystems moving the same object from a base location to the samedestination location.

As shown in the table at 96 in FIG. 16 , the trajectory ₁T¹ from thebase location 95 to the destination location 102 may have a fast time(0.6 s) but a high risk factor. The trajectory ₂ T¹ from the baselocation 95 to the destination location 102 may have a much slower time(1.4 s) but still a fairly high risk factor (16.7). The trajectory ₃T¹from the base location 95 to the destination location 102 may have arelatively fast time (1.3 s) and a moderate risk factor (11.2). Thechoice of selecting the fastest trajectory is not always the best assometimes the fastest trajectory may have an unacceptably high riskfactor. If the risk factor is too high, valuable time may be lost byfailure of the robotic system to maintain acquisition of the object.Different trajectories therefore, may have different times and riskfactors, and this data may be used by the system in motion planning.

FIG. 17 , for example, shows minimum time-selected trajectories from thebase location 95 to each of destination bin locations 102-118. Inparticular, the tables shown at 97 that the time and risk factors for aplurality of the destination bins, and the trajectories from the baselocation 95 to each of a plurality of the destination bin locations arechosen to provide the minimum time for motion planning for motionplanning under a risk factor of 14.0.

FIG. 18 shows minimum risk-factor-selected set of trajectories from thebase location 95 to each of the destination bin locations 102-118.Again, the tables shown at 97 show the time and risk factors for theplurality of the destination bins (e.g., 1-3). The trajectories from thebase location 95 to each of the destination bin locations 102-118 arechosen to provide the minimum risk factor for motion planning under amaximum time of 1.2 seconds.

The choice of fast time vs. low risk factor may be determined in avariety of ways, for example, by choosing the fastest time having a riskfactor below an upper risk factor limit (e.g., 12 or 14), or by choosinga lowest risk factor having a maximum time below an upper limit (e.g.,1.0 or 1.2). Again, if the risk factor is too high, valuable time may belost by failure of the robotic system to maintain acquisition of theobject. An advantage of the varied set is robustness to small changes inthe environment and to different-sized objects the system might behandling: instead of re-planning in these situations, the systemiterates through the database until it finds a trajectory that iscollision-free, safe and robust for the new situation. The system maytherefore generalize across a variety of environments without having tore-plan the motions.

Overall trajectories therefore, may include any number of changing andunchanging sections. For example, networks of unchanging trajectoryportions may be employed as commonly used paths (roads), while changingportions may be directed to moving objects to a close-by unchangingportion (close road) to facilitate moving the object without requiringthe entire route to be planned. For example, the programmable motiondevice (e.g., a robot) may be tasked with orienting the grasped objectin front of an automatic labeler before moving towards the destination.The trajectory to sort the object therefore, would be made up of thefollowing trajectory portions. First, a grasp pose to a home position(motion planned). Then, from home position to an auto-labeler home(pulled from a trajectory database). Then, from the auto-labeler home toa labelling pose (motion planned). Then, from the labelling pose to anauto-labeler home (either motion planned or just reverse the previousmotion plan step). Then, from the auto-labeler home to the intendeddestination (pulled from the trajectory database). A wide variety ofchanging and unchanging (planned and pulled from a database) portionsmay be employed in overall trajectories. In accordance with furtherembodiments, the object may be grasped from a specific pose (planned),and when the object reaches a destination bin (from the trajectorydatabase), the last step may be to again place the object in the desiredpose (planned) within the destination bin.

In accordance with further embodiments, the motion planning may alsoprovide that relatively heavy items (as may be determined by knowinginformation about the grasped object or by sensing weight—or both—at theend effector) may be processed (e.g., moved in trajectories) and placedin boxes in very different ways than the processing and placement ofrelatively light objects. Again, the risk verses speed calculations maybe employed for optimization of moving known objects of a variety ofweights and sizes as may occur, for example, in the processing of a widevariety of consumer products.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, andwith reference to FIG. 19 , a multi-station system 230 includes multipleprocessing stations 232 that are similar to those shown in at 30 in FIG.2 . The processing stations receive decanted vendor bins 234 via a pairof input conveyors 238, each of which includes adjacent processinglocations at which break-pack packages 244 are filled. The system alsoincludes an output conveyor 242 on which processed break-pack packages244 may be placed when completed. Each processing station 232 includes aprogrammable motion device that moves objects from an in-feed area toany of a plurality of processing locations as discussed above withreference to FIG. 2 . The system 230 may further include multipleprocessing stations as well as multiple input conveyors and multipleoutput conveyors as shown.

The system, therefore, provides means that interface with the customer'soutgoing object conveyance systems. When a bin (or package) is full asdetermined by the system (in monitoring system operation), a humanoperator may pull the bin from the processing area, and place the bin inan appropriate conveyor. When a bin is full it gets removed to theclosed/labelled, another empty bin is immediately placed in the locationfreed up by the removed full bin, and the system continues processing asdiscussed above.

In accordance with a specific embodiment, the invention provides a userinterface that conveys all relevant information to operators,management, and maintenance personnel. In a specific embodiment, thismay include lights indicating bins that are about to be ejected (asfull), bins that are not completely properly positioned, the in-feedhopper content level, and the overall operating mode of the entiresystem. Additional information might include the rate of objectprocessing and additional statistics. In a specific embodiment, thesystem may automatically print labels and scan labels before theoperator places the packages on an output conveyor. In accordance with afurther embodiment, the system may incorporate software systems thatinterface with the customer's databases and other information systems,to provide operational information to the customer's system, and toquery the customer's system for object information.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications andvariations may be made to the above disclosed embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is: 1.-23. (canceled)
 24. A processing system forprocessing objects, said processing system comprising: an inputconveyance system for providing a plurality of objects to an input areaalong a first direction; a processing station including a perceptionsystem for perceiving identifying indicia representative of identitiesof each of the plurality of objects, the processing station furtherincluding an articulated arm that is movable along a processing locationdistance in a second direction that is generally parallel with the firstdirection, and the processing location distance being associated withthe input area along the first direction on which the plurality ofobjects are provided; a container processing area associated with theinput area of the input conveyance system, the container processing areaproviding a plurality of containers for receiving any of the pluralityof objects from the input area using the articulated arm, and thecontainer processing area being provided along a third direction that isgenerally parallel with the first direction, the articulated arm beingengageable for moving objects from the input area to any of theplurality of containers provided in the container processing area; anoutput conveyance system for receiving a plurality of completedcontainers from the container processing area at an output area along afourth direction that is generally parallel with the first direction,the output area being associated with the processing location distance;and a container kicker system that is movable along a fifth directionthat is generally parallel with the first direction and includes acontact portion for urging a completed container of the plurality ofcompleted containers from the container processing area to the outputarea of the output conveyance system.
 25. The processing system of claim24, wherein the container kicker system further includes a displacementarm for urging the completed container from the container processingarea to the output area of the output conveyance system.
 26. Theprocessing system of claim 25, wherein the contact portion includes aroller on the displacement arm.
 27. The processing system of claim 24,wherein the contact portion of the completed container contacts a trayin which the completed container is provided.
 28. The processing systemof claim 24, wherein the processing system further includes an emptycontainer supply conveyor that provides empty containers to an emptycontainer area associated with the output area of the output conveyancesystem.
 29. The processing system of claim 28, wherein the articulatedarm is further engageable for moving an empty container of the pluralityof empty containers at the empty container area to the containerprocessing area.
 30. The processing system of claim 24, wherein theperception system perceives identifying indicia on each of the pluralityof objects.
 31. The processing system of claim 24, wherein theperception system perceives identifying indicia on a supply containerthat contains a subset of the plurality of objects, the subset being ahomogenous set of objects.
 32. The processing system of claim 24,wherein the processing system includes a plurality of processingstations, each of the plurality of processing stations including arespective perception system and a respective articulated arm, each ofwhich is in communication with the output conveyance system.
 33. Theprocessing system of claim 24, wherein a base of the articulated arm isconfigured to move along the processing location distance on a trackthat is positioned on a floor below the input area.
 34. The processingsystem of claim 24, wherein a base of the articulated arm is configuredto move along the processing location distance on a track that issuspended from above with respect to the input area.
 35. A processingsystem for processing objects, said processing system comprising: aninput conveyance system for providing a plurality of objects to an inputarea along a first direction, said input area providing for a pluralityof input containers to be presented therein; a processing stationproximate the input area, said processing station including a perceptionsystem for perceiving identifying indicia representative of identitiesof each of the plurality of objects, the processing station furtherincluding an articulated arm that is movable along a processing locationarea that extends in a second direction that is generally parallel withthe first direction; a container processing area associated with theinput area of the input conveyance system, the container processing areaproviding a plurality of containers for receiving any of the pluralityof objects from the input area using the articulated arm, and thecontainer processing area being provided along a third direction that isgenerally parallel with the first direction, wherein the articulated armis engageable for moving objects from the input area to any of theplurality of containers provided in the container processing area, andwherein the articulated arm is engageable for moving an empty containerfrom an empty container area to the container processing area; and anoutput conveyance system for receiving a plurality of completedcontainers from the container processing area at an output area along afourth direction that is generally parallel with the first direction.36. The processing system of claim 35, wherein the processing systemincludes a container kicker system for moving any of the plurality ofcompleted containers from the container processing area to the outputarea of the output conveyance system.
 37. The processing system of claim36, wherein the displacement arm includes a roller on an end of thedisplacement arm for urging a completed container of the plurality ofcompleted containers to the output area.
 38. The processing system ofclaim 35, wherein the processing containers are each provided in acontainer tray.
 39. The processing system of claim 35, wherein thearticulated arm is used for moving any of the plurality of completedcontainers from the container processing area to the output area of theoutput conveyance system.
 40. The processing system of claim 35, whereinthe processing system further includes an empty container supplyconveyor that provides a plurality of empty containers to the emptycontainer area.
 41. The processing system of claim 40, wherein the emptycontainer area is above the output area of the output conveyance system.42. The processing system of claim 35, wherein a base of the articulatedarm is configured to move along the processing location area on a trackthat is positioned on a floor below the input area.
 43. The processingsystem of claim 35, wherein a base of the articulated arm is configuredto move along the processing location area on a track that is suspendedfrom above with respect to the input area.
 44. A method of processingobjects comprising: providing a plurality of objects to an input areaalong a first direction; perceiving identifying indicia representativeof identities of each of the plurality of objects; moving an articulatedarm along a processing location area extending in a second directionthat is generally parallel with the first direction, the processinglocation area being associated with the input area along the firstdirection on which the plurality of objects are provided; providing acontainer processing area associated with the input area of the inputconveyance system, the container processing area providing a pluralityof containers for receiving any of the plurality of objects from theinput area using the articulated arm, the container processing areabeing provided along a third direction that is generally parallel withthe first direction; receiving a plurality of completed containers fromthe container processing area at an output area of an output conveyancesystem along a fourth direction that is generally parallel with thefirst direction, the output area being associated with the processinglocation area; moving objects from the input area to any of theplurality of containers provided in the container processing area usingthe articulated arm; moving any of the plurality of completed containersfrom the container processing area to the output area of the outputconveyance system, the output area extending in a sixth direction thatis generally parallel with the first direction; and moving an emptycontainer from an empty container area to the container processing areausing the articulated arm.
 45. The method of claim 44, wherein themoving any of the plurality of completed containers from the containerprocessing area to the output area includes using a container kickersystem that includes a displacement arm for urging the completedcontainer from the container processing area to the output area of theoutput conveyance system.
 46. The method of claim 45, wherein thedisplacement arm includes a roller on an end of the displacement arm forurging a completed container of the plurality of completed containers tothe output area.
 47. The method of claim 44, wherein the processingcontainers are each provided in a container tray.
 48. The method ofclaim 44, wherein the moving any of the plurality of completedcontainers from the container processing area to the output areaincludes using the articulated arm to urge any of the plurality ofcompleted container from the container processing area to the outputarea.
 49. The method of claim 44, wherein a base of the articulated armis configured to move along the processing location area on a track thatis positioned on a floor below the input area.
 50. The method of claim44, wherein a base of the articulated arm is configured to move alongthe processing location area on a track that is suspended from abovewith respect to the input area.